Before moving to Queensland over ten years ago, I had been living in England for some time. In England it rains, a lot. Not just in winter as it does in Victoria, or just in summer as it does here in Queensland, but all the time. ( Yes I know the seasons haven’t been typical in recent years)
The gardens and fields never seemed to go brown and I don’t remember seeing plants stressed from lack of water. It’s a very different story back here in SE Queensland. The storm season this summer has provided some great rain events but also very hot days. The high temperatures leading up to a storm cause the plants to become stressed and wilt.
A well establish garden with plants suited to the area should cope with summer extremes. A new garden can suffer at this time of year and planting in the summer months should be avoided unless extra care can be given.
The tip I have for this month is to move mulch around. The benefits of mulching are well know and can be read about in UWG newsletter Aug 2020. In the storm season mulch is useful during the hot days to reduce soil moisture loss. When the rains come mulch reduces erosion but can also be a barrier in lighter rain reaching the soil. Moving mulch away from plants just before the rains hit will allow water to penetrate the soil. Moving it back when the rain stops reduces evaporation and keeps the moisture where its most useful, in the soil. I wonder if we could train the Brush Turkeys to do this job?
Michelle